


One Piece: Age of the Four Seasons (Winter) - The Rift Pirates

by FeBriz



Series: One Piece: Age of the Four Seasons [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Banter, Comedy, Gen, Gunplay, Investigation, Martial Arts, Mischief, Original Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Sailing, Swordplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-12-24 11:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21098846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeBriz/pseuds/FeBriz
Summary: Outlaws Soso "Coy Boy" Brizan and "Wildcard" Orrahn have spent the past two years floating aimlessly across the South Blue conning people of ships and sofas alike. However, a mysterious chain of events leads Brizan to investigate some strange occurrences in the South Blue. Join this dastardly duo as they try their very best to avoid dealing with their problems such as a very persistent marine captain and a dangerous Grand Line pirate! If he plays his cards right, "Coy Boy" might just get rid of his bothersome bounty so he can move on with his life.





	1. Winter's Breeze

Babylon Island Part 1 of 3

By: FeBriz

Two Mornings before Whitebeards Death: On the South Blue

"Hey, Blondie!" a twelve-year-old kid shouted as he climbed back aboard the moving ship. The boy’s curly light-brown hair obscured his eyes and was paired with a faded gray and dark green plaid flat cap that had seen better days. His attire bespoke a background scrounging up what he could in city streets. The boy currently wore a dark gray and green coat covered in patches and hidden pockets where he kept all his _surprises_. Underneath the coat, the young thief wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with brown pants and black boots.

"What's up Orrahn?" ‘Blondie’ asked with only a meager hint of concern in his voice. The 21-year-old outlaw was currently sprawled out on the sofa he had placed at the helm of this ship. Soso ‘Coy Boy’ Brizan looked up from his prone position, seriously debating the merit of sitting so he could steer the vessel. His short, golden-blond hair and scraggly mustache had a degree of messiness suitable for one with his vagabond lifestyle. The man sported a charcoal gray long coat with tails that descended to just above his knees. As Brizan pushed himself from his stomach, the white fur lining the inside collar of the open coat became visible. Underneath the coat, Brizan wore a light gray shirt with a yin-yang symbol on the front that was partially visible. He also had a pair of weathered blue-gray pants that bagged over his light-gray shoes. His pants and coat were tied together by means of the white sash that Brizan had obtained two years previously. The sash made from the fur of a rare species of goat native to the Grand Line. The sash holstered a plain cutlass in its left side and an elaborate pistol on its right.

"The ship's gonna sink blondie!" Orrahn responded, pointed out the sloshing under the deck that indicated the leaks had far exceeded a manageable level. Despite the danger, the thief was currently propped up on the edge of the ship kicking his legs out over the ocean.

"What is this? The fifteenth ship in two years?" Brizan said with a grunt and an eye roll.

"Yea, mainly due to your crappy navigating, and those bully marines constantly attacking us." Orrahn shot back.

Lieutenant Butterfield must have been very angry after the incident from two years ago to have placed a bounty of 6,000,000 belli some random townsperson. The news article detailing the Brizan’s crimes stated that "Coy Boy" had recruited the pirate captain "Orange Storm" Jakin and his crew as petty vengeance upon the orphanage that had kicked him out for unruly behavior. While Brizan was certainly petty, anyone who knew him would know that the outlaw did not have the energy for that sort of scheming. This was barring the fact that the master of the orphanage still let Brizan bum around the place as a nineteen-year-old and was not going to kick him out any time soon. The part of the article detailing Brizan’s liberation of kid-fugitive ‘Wildcard’ Orrahn and commandeering of a marine vessel, however, was completely true.

After earning himself a bounty, ‘Coy Boy’ knew he had little choice but to team up with ‘Wildcard” and become the vagrant he was to this day. Brizan contributed his strange abilities and slightly-above-average navigation skills while Orrahn was a master of infiltration and improvisation. The two had formed the perfect team and other than the loss of fourteen ships were able to endure two years of constant attacks by pirates, marines, and bounty hunters.

Their current ship was a small cog the duo stole from a team bounty hunters. This vessel had lasted about a month above their average. "Well it seems that Babylon Island is not too far away, we should be able to make it before we sink," Brizan said as he unrolled a map and pulled out his compass. Brizan had become quite apt at estimating sink time, he could probably make a career out of it.

"Yea if we don't crash into a barrier reef," Orrahn said with a maximum quantity of sass as he straightened his flat cap.

"Come on that was a year and half ago, I was still learning to navigate between different islands." Brizan halfheartedly retorted the outlaw had resumed his previous position on the sofa and his eyes were closed for a well-deserved nap. Orrahn to keep them on track now that the course was set.

"Hey!" Orrahn whined, several hours later. "Hey, blondie!"

"What?" Brizan responded, rubbing his eyes.

"Reef- I mean island." Orrahn laughed as he pointed at an island in the distance.

"Oh shut up smart ass," Brizan said to Orrahn's comment about the reef as he sat up and took control of the helm. A spurt of water from the terrible leak below deck slapped the blonde-haired outlaw in the face.

"Babylon Island, isn't that the Casino empire?" Orrahn asked with a grin.

Soso Brizan let out a sigh, "Yea it is, but we just a need a ship and then we are going to get outta there." Brizan said as he adjusted the steering slightly. "Say, what do you think about the Grand Line?" He asked casually.

A dark shadow cast over Orrahn's face as he heard Brizan's words before returning to its normal, energetic state moments later "Lots of cool stuff like your pistol and sash in there would be a nice place to continue our business, why do ya ask?"

"I am just thinking about options. I might know someone there who could help me with this whole bounty thing." Brizan responded with the ship now only minutes from the island. "Though we would need a more reliable ship.”

"It would have to be made from one of the world's hardest woods to survive the beating we give boat blondie."

"Well we are almost there, let's pack our stuff.” The outlaw glanced down at the piece of furniture with a mournful frown. “I don't think I'll be able to bring this couch to the next one, it is starting to get moldy," Brizan said solemnly before heading to the back to grab his belonging.

Moments later the two lined up at the port side of the ship, ready to dock. They were now only meters away. "Let's do this blondie!" Orrahn said with excitement as he jumped into the air with his bag over his shoulder. Brizan followed right behind and the two's landing was echoed by a loud _*CRASH*_ the cog hit the rocks near the shore hard, splitting near in half and sinking the ocean’s depths.

"It is always so sad," Brizan commented as he slid on a pair of angled black sunglasses.

"Whatever reef-man, are you seriously still thinkin' ya can hide your identity with a pair of sunglasses." Orrahn laughed sarcastically.

"Of course, people are pretty stupid Orrahn," Brizan replied as they stepped off the dock and into the town. "Ya know, we haven't eaten in a couple of days. We should go grab some food."

"Yea let's eat, though what's up with this place? So many signs!" Orrahn said he immediately climbed up a billboard advertising a casino and looked over the edge. "THIS PLACE IS HUGE! ESPECIALLY THIS PINK AND GOLD CASINO OVER THERE!"

Before Orrahn had pointed it out, Brizan had not noticed the buildings at all. They really were huge, casinos and signs littered his field of vision in a whole spectrum of colors. "So this is Babylon City…" He muttered to himself in a very slight awe.

"Hey, I see a crappy old bar down the road, it's made of marble and gold! Let's go blondie!" and with that said, Orrahn jumped to the roof of a nearby building and ran towards the bar.

"How could a bar constructed from marble and gold be a crappy old bar?" Brizan pondered as he wandered through the alleyways in the direction that Orrahn pointed. Moments later he got his answer as he stared up at the golden sign of a small marble and gold building. "R & J's Crappy Old Bar…. how odd…" Brizan said as he read the sign before walking into the bar.

"Hey!" A rough voice said, "Does this brat belong to you?"

Brizan looked to the opposite end where Orrahn was being held up by the back of the jacket by a rather hairy man with dark red hair and a curly red mustache with an 'R & J's Crappy Old Bar' in gold on his white apron. "Yea he's mine, could ya let him down? He won't cause any more trouble. We just need some food."

Orrahn landed on the ground and stuck his tongue out at the man shortly before being smacked in the back of the head by his partner. Orrahn followed this up by promptly sitting back down at the bar and initiating his pouting mode. The two then ordered their food and waited as the man poured their drinks. "So why does such a nice place have a name like 'R & J's Crappy Old Bar'?" Brizan asked out of pure curiosity.

"Oh we get that all the time, so I'll tell ya!" The man said heartily as he finished pouring the drinks. "I'm Russ or R and J is Jerry, he's the best damn chef on the island! Or he was… until he was forced to leave the island by the law…" The man ended on a solemn note.

"I'm asking about the part with the cra- wait did you say your name was Russ?" Brizan asked now starting to notice the man's striking resemblance to the Russ from his own town, and him being a bar owner made things weirder.

"Why yes it is, why?" Russ said but Brizan paid no attention to his words and lowered his glasses to get a better look at the man... "Wait Brizan?" The bartender responded as he saw the outlaw’s eyes for the first time.

Brizan snapped to attention as he was recognized and simultaneously whipped his gun out and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Told ya the glasses worked" Orrahn also reacted just as fast (or faster) than his partner and smashed Brizan's glass on the table, partly to create a shank and partly because Brizan was right about the glasses and he wanted revenge. "My glass…" Brizan moaned.

"Woah now, I don't plan on calling the marines, I think you're innocent. Now put your gun down, you're causing a scene." Russ said as he held his hands up in surrender.

Brizan looked around, all eyes were on him, he let out a sigh and put his gun away. "Sorry, did you just tell me you thought I was innocent?"

"Yea, most of Cooperton does. Why would you still be wearing Wong's symbol if you were not?" Russ said as he pointed to the symbol on Brizan's shirt before explaining everything that had happened since Brizan left. "When you were captured, we were all in an uproar and demanded your release, there was no way you had the capacity to orchestrate that attack.” Russ took a moment to clean up the broken glass before continuing to speak. “Well, Butterfield went to town and explain his bullshit story. I told him what I felt about that." The man said as he poured himself a beer and took a sip. "Unfortunately, Butterfield blamed me for holding him up when you two took his ship, forcing the town to exile me."

Brizan downed his drink. He was not sure what to say. His actions certainly did give old Rus here a lot of grief. “Well, if it is any consolation, I sunk that marine ship within half a day. Was not really meant for two people.”

About an hour later, the duo was back on the streets of Babylon city. Brizan let out a yawn and stuck his hands behind his head. It was nice to meet someone from Cooperton, but that did not make talking less of a chore.

"Yea, yea, whatever blondie, you are snarky and cool. Where are we goin' anyway?" Orrahn said with a hint of impatience.

Brizan let out a sigh, "To the shipyard, Russ gave me directions. We should just grab a ship and get out of here."

"Come on blondie!" Orrahn whined, "Let's go to the big casino!"

"No. We are already at the shipyard." Brizan said while he gazed blankly at archway leading to a maze of wood and muscular men hammering away at the bare frames of ships in all sizes.

The duo had barely made their way through the archway when a loud _*Bang!*_ echoed through the shipyard, causing the chorus of hammers and saws to stop at once. One of the shipwrights was now on the ground, bleeding heavily from a bullet wound. "Vindier!" another shipwright called out for his comrade before he too was sent to the ground following another loud _*Bang!*_. This was when the shipwrights grasped what was going on at last "PIRATES!" one screamed, causing the group to jump off their stations and stampede towards the exit.

"What the hell!" Orrahn exclaimed with his whiny, high pitched voice as he and Brizan dove to opposite sides to avoid being trampled by a bunch of burly, sweaty shipwrights. The two stood up and brushed themselves off as the dust subsided, leaving them to be the only people in sight. "So what do you think that was about?" Orrahn asked his partner.

"Well, they said it was pirates. So I deduce that the infraction was pirate-adjacent." Brizan responded with a blank expression. “Sounds like stealing a ship will be easier now.”

Orrahn grinned at Brizan, clearly thinking the same thing. “Too bad most of these aren't even close to being done."

"Yea I rather have a ship that would last. Butterfield is getting persist- "Brizan was cut off by another loud noise. This one much closer than the previous two.

"Damn you, pirates!" The pair could hear a distressed voice, "What gave you the right to shoot my friends!" The voice cried. Brizan and Orrahn's eyes were now trained on an upcoming intersection of shipbuilding stations, they were just around the corner.

"GET OUTTA OUR WAY!" A gruff voice yelled out in anger as a lanky bald man with a long, thin blue beard and a carpenter's hammer was propelled into the duo’s line of sight. Upon closer inspection, the two could see that the man was crying and grabbing at a wound on his right soldier. The man immediately jumped up and charged back at the direction that he had been kicked from only to be brought down by another gunshot.

"They never learn do they?" This second speaker was audibly frustrated.

"Oh shut up Vorance! We just got humiliated back there! What the hell was that monster doing building a ship!" The gruff was clearly outraged at his subordinate's insolence. Brizan could already tell who was calling the shots here.

"Well, it was a nice ship…"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The voices were getting ever closer and the duo of thieves had nowhere to hide, they were closer to the intersection than the archway out of the building. They were going to be spotted by the pirates for sure. The footsteps came to a stop as a group of six men stood in front of the duo. "That's 'Gold Star' Bulmago." Brizan muttered to his partner "1,500,000 belli." The two then burst out in laughter.

"You better watch out." Orrahn snapped back once he had stopped snickering, "This bro's got seven whole numbers on his head!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!." shouted a hairy and rotund man wearing a light brown cowboy hat with a gold star on the front of it. He had bushy blond hair that matched his equally bushy mustache below his nose. Bulmago was wearing an open leather vest with his equally bushy chest hair breaking free of their prison of animal hide. Like any responsible pirate or Brizan (who was not a pirate), the man wore both a cutlass and a pistol at his hip.

"It looks like they are laughing at you, captain." said a much taller man with a black cowboy hat and a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. Brizan matched the voice of this man with the one called Vorance, he seemed to be the first mate of the crew. He wore a long-sleeved black dress shirt and pants with a rifle slung around his back.

"Hey Orrahn, it looks like they are hurt. Do you think someone beat em' up already?" Brizan said to his partner before turning and realizing that the thief was gone "Damn you and your eagerness to make the first strike." Brizan mumbled to himself as he inspected the group of six pirates which was now all close enough to make out more than just their clothes. Bulmago had a black eye while the rest of the group, besides Vorance who seemed to have kept his distance, were also bleeding or had bruises on their bodies.

"I ASKED WHAT YOU WERE LAUGHING AT!?" Bulmago yelled in rage as he whipped out his pistol, the rest of his crew following suit with the exception of those who only had swords.

Brizan was going to get shot. He hated getting shot. It happened far too often these days and he was getting tired of it. He knew the safe decision was to just say "Nothing" and move on, he was good at knowing the safe thing to say. Unfortunately, Brizan could not resist a good zing. "You, because you are being loud." He responded, his cold eyes glancing over the crew while his heart began to pump in preparation for a fight.

Bulmago's eyes suddenly flashed in rage and Brizan braced himself to dive out of the way when a flash and a thud caught the attention of the crew. Orrahn used this moment to swoop down from above, the boy had been climbing on one of the partially completed trading vessels that towered above them. His weapons of choice? A bucket, a several-foot-long long segment of rope and a carpenter's hammer. All of these items were most likely picked up by the thief as he scaled the construction. Orrahn landed on top of Vorance bucket first, causing the man to stumble around like a fool with a bucket on his head. "WHAT THE HELL!" Bulmago shouted as him and the rest of the crew spotted with his legs wrapped around Vorance's torso while his arms tied up Vorance's arms as well as holding down the bucket and held the meter-long cut of rope that was strung around Vorance's neck.

"YOU BA-" Bulmargo began before being interrupted by a gunshot! Bulmargo could feel wet blood gushing down the back of his knee. He turned around to face his second assailant. Brizan stood with his pistol smoking from his left hand and his right foot kicking forward, into Bulmago’s gut. The already off-balance pirate tumbled screaming into the ocean.

"You cheap bastard!" One of the crewmen shouted, "He could have beaten you if he wasn't turned around!" He continued in utter dismay as he raised his own gun and fired.

Brizan was already rolling forward by the time the gun was fired. The outlaw jumping to his feet and clashing sword to sword with the crewman. "Which is why I shot him. What did you want me to have a long and drawn-out fight with the leader when I could just beat him there?" Brizan stammered, annoyed. People were always questioning his methods. Brizan sighed, this was not the time. The outlaw rolled his eyes and casually sidestepped a slash by his opponent while a second swordsman jumped in to team up on Brizan.

Vorance crashed to the ground, unconscious as he ran out of air to breathe. "Aww man, I thought the dude would panic and shoot his allies or something," Orrahn whined, rolling forward with rope in one hand and hammer in the other. "Now, time to smack these punks good!” he continued. Orrahn may have been young and physically weak but he sure knew how to work with his limitations as the appropriately named "Wildcard".

"Damn you, ya little punk!" A pirate yelled as he ran in with a sword, while a second put away his pistol and brought his sword out, holding it at the ready.

Orrahn smiled and rolled between the first pirate's legs as he attacked with a low horizontal slice. "Missed me!" Orrahn grinned, triggering his opponent's rage. Who roared, spun, and struck downward with all his might. Orrahn easily evaded the attack and grabbed the rope in both of his hands. The thief jumped into the air and slung it around the back of the pirate's neck, using the loop as leverage to elevate himself to eye level with his opponent. "I feel sorry for ya man, this is gonna hurt like crazy." He grinned as he grabbed the carpenter's hammer and shoved the forked prongs on the back of it up each of the pirate’s nostrils.

The pirate howled in pain, but Orrahn's savagery was not over yet. The thief switched his grip on the rope so he had one end in each hand again and slid the rope up. By this point the pirate was bent over, attempting to get the hammer out of his nose, but it was too late. Orrahn slid the rope off the top of his opponent's head and caught the hammer's handle on the way down. Orrahn smiled as he grabbed both ends in one hand again and used the momentum to swing himself between his opponent's legs, bringing him to the ground nose-first.

Brizan, upon seeing that Orrahn brought down his first opponent in under ten seconds, decided that it was time to get serious. He casually parried a downward slash from one of his opponents and did a casual sidestep, allowing him to get out from under the enemy pirate's blade. "I should probably come up with a name for this attack, but I don't really feel like it," Brizan said in a bored tone as he slipped his blade back, causing the enemy to continue his swing and stumble forward, giving Brizan an opening to smack the bottom of his cutlass's hilt into the back of the pirate's head, knocking him unconscious.

"How the hell are we losing two fights in one morning?" Brizan's only remaining opponent growled as he rushed forward to attack the blond-haired pirate.

"Wait we aren't the only ones? I thought we were special!" Brizan said sleepily as he sheathed his sword and jumped back to avoid the most recent attack. The outlaw took a step back and raised his arms before him like a mantis readying to strike.

Orrahn, on the other hand, was taunting and luring his final opponent closer and closer to the front of a half-completed ship. The pirate paused with his continued assault and gasped for breath, Orrahn just had too much energy for him. "Come on dude, don't give on me now!" He said with a bright grin on his face while he circled around the pirate and waved around his only remaining weapon, the meter of rope that he had already used to take out two of his opponents.

"Damn it!" the pirate growled as he sliced at the kid thief, stumbling forward a bit as his exhaustion caught up to him. Orrahn did not let this opportunity slip by, he nimbly rolled between his opponent's legs and tied one end of the rope around his ankle and the other to the top of the dropped anchor of the half-completed ship. "The hell?" The pirate stammered as he crouched to untie the knot but it was too late as he was swept off his feet, the anchor had begun to rise.

Orrahn grunted as he used all the strength in his body to crank the anchor on top of the ship. Thankfully Orrahn was renowned for his lightning speed and was able to climb up aboard the ship so quickly. "YOU CHEAP BASTARD!" He could hear the pirate yell as he was raised off the ground by his ankle.

"Oh well!" Orrahn shrugged as he jumped off the ship and turned to see how Brizan was doing. "HURRY UP BLONDIE!"

Brizan saw that Orrahn had already finished his fight and began to feel rushed. "Damnit Orrahn, let me do things at my own pace!" He called back as he sidestepped another slice from his opponent.

"BLONDIE BLONDIE BLONDIE BLONDIE!" Orrahn screamed back to annoy Brizan, which was the only way to get him to do anything in a timely manner.

Brizan rolled his eyes "fine" he mumbled as he waited for his opponent to strike again. The pirate let out a grunt and attacked with a quick horizontal slice, but Brizan had predicted this. The blond pirate already had his left foot raised by the time the enemy had initiated his strike, allowing him the opportunity to stomp down on the moving blade.

"Shit!" the pirate growled as he tried to remove the sword in anger but to no avail. Brizan had already made his move and lunged forward, knocking the pirate out with a quick blow to the neck.

"Hey Orrahn, how do you think these guys got beat up? They said something about a monster." Brizan said feeling slightly tense, he was perfectly confident in using cheap tricks to beat up low-bounty pirates but a monster made him feel a bit anxious.

"Whatchya talkin' bout' blondie? You could probably beat everyone on this island, you didn't even come close to having to use your fruit in that last fight." Orrahn said with a big grin on his face as they turned the corner that the pirates had emerged from earlier. "What I do remember them saying was that the monster was building a nice ship. " He grinned wider "A nice ship we could steal!"

"Oh there you go again, I don't really like stealing from hardworking, innocent people," Brizan responded with an uncanny air of righteousness in his voice.

"Oh, whatever blondie!" Orrahn grinned before running ahead like his usual, hyper self.

"Would you calm down for one moment you hyper little bra-" Brizan began before seeing that Orrahn was frozen in his tracks at the right turn ahead of him "Orrahn?"

"Wow blondie you might want to get up here, you might change your mind," Orrahn said while smiling broadly.

Brizan did a slight jog to catch up with his teammate, "What is i-" Brizan began before being lost in amazement. "Wow, I wouldn't mind stealing that," Brizan said in complete awe.

Being built right next to the water was a small ship, and it was by far the most beautiful craft he had ever seen. It was a two-masted vessel with a sturdy appearance. Its build was similar to that of a fluyt, but smaller so it could be sailed with minimum crew. The ship seemed to be made for transporting important cargo or important people, but could still hold its own in battle. It would be the perfect ship for a pair of thieves, despite being able to hold up to twelve people. The wood used to construct the ship was a deep, almost black walnut color painted deep blue with silver at the top. Areas on board the deck of the ship were still being worked on, but the vessel was certainly seaworthy regardless. The ship even had several state-of-the-art South Blue cannons on each side.

The color scheme of the ship just added to the ship's beauty. The majority of it was beautifully painted a midnight blue that sparkled just like an actual night sky. The wood that made up the top rim of the ship, however, was painted a shining silver that shone like the moon. "Wow blondie, what do you think the figurehead of the ship is gonna be? It's just a silver neck right now!" Orrahn said with excitement as he ran towards the ship, Brizan following behind, not letting Orrahn go off on his own to do something stupid.

"Dunno," Brizan said as the two stopped running, allowing Brizan to pant for air. "Looks like a weasel neck if you ask me," Brizan said rather bluntly.

"Ohh it will be a silver weasel indeed!" Said a slightly cheerful voice behind the pair. Brizan's eyes widened, he had not heard anybody coming, yet suddenly a massive shadow was cast in front of him. "I am glad you appreciate _The Moon Goddess_, she is my greatest work." The voice said as Brizan turned to face the stylish grinning giant towering above the pair at around sixteen feet tall.

"A whale! A whale!" Orrahn danced around the "monster" with a huge grin on his face.

Brizan gulped as he gaped at the figure towering over him. _'Stealing this is gonna be tricky.'_


	2. Barbels

Disclaimer: We do not own One Piece in any way

Babylon Island: Part 2 of 3

Babylon Island: The Euphrates Casino

"I fold," Brizan said with a yawn as he placed his nine of hearts and ten of clubs face down on the table and pushed them forwards.

"You fold immediately again!" exclaimed the youthful and charismatic merchant in burgundy-colored silk clothing who was sitting next to him. The merchant was a bright-eyed man named Koji who dreamed his products would one day be known worldwide. He had silky black hair tied back into a noble ponytail with a long goatee extending a few inches past his chin.

"Ah, let the boy do as he pleases!" Said the man across from them, "If he's not feeling the luck, then he's not feeling the luck! " The man continued with a huge grin on his face. He was the only one at the table that had not revealed his name upon sitting down. The mysterious man even had his eyes covered with round silver engineer-styled goggles with shaded lenses. He was slightly taller than Brizan and wore a dark gray, feathered broad hat with light-blue felt lining the rim. The stranger’s hair was curly and orange, falling to just above his shoulders. The man sported Van Dyke mustache and beard combo, with the mustache, parted in the middle. He wore light-blue and grey silks with a long-sleeved white undershirt. The strange man was even wearing a black cape that was currently draped over the chair he was sitting in., This was all quite conspicuous for one who kept his identity a secret.

"I think I will fold as well!" said a woman with glossy black hair and a sunshine yellow dress. Brizan believed that she said her name was Kalmina and was from a country in the Grand Line. 'Hmm, I should ask her about the place if she is from there.' Brizan said, still juggling the idea of venturing to the grand line in his head.

"Well, I will raise you 10,000!" Said the next man who could hardly keep his name a secret.

Brizan was surprised they let the notorious ‘Gunblade’ Hexxon with a 16,000,000 belli bounty into the casino, granted they did take his famed gunblade from him at the entrance to the _Euphrates_ _Casino_. _'I guess they are used to having dangerous people in the _Euphrates' __Brizan thought to himself, _'__but still, Hexxon is something else, he has to be one of the top ten bounty heads in the South Blue!'_ Brizan, deep in thought, noticed he was staring at the man.

"What the hell are you looking at!" Hexxon growled as he slammed his hands on the table. He was an extremely tall man who stood at about 10 feet in height. The man wore a black tricorne hat and an open, black jacket with gold trim to show off his muscular body. Hexxon kept his brown hair short on top but had a long, triangular beard that started with his sideburns and mustache before it tapered down toward his stomach.

"Oh nothing, just spaced out a bit," Brizan said apologetically as he his weapons that were no doubt stored in the casino’s safe with the famed gunblade.

"Ah leave the poor kid alone," Said the old noble Vindlewelt the country of Komwat. He was an old man with a carefully trimmed silver beard and elegant silk green clothes.

Behind him stood Bert, the sixteen-foot tall silver arowana fishman he had met earlier. _'Why did things have to be so complicated to steal one ship…'_

Two Hours Earlier - Babylon Island: Shipyard

"_A whale, a whale!" Orrahn echoed as he danced around the newly arrived behemoth._

_The man stood at about sixteen feet tall and had dull silver skin. His head, from what Brizan could see through the glare, was large enough to block out the majority of the sun. The man had a slight underbite with a jaw that slanted back so drastically that his chin was almost merged with his neck. Three rather conspicuous protrusions emitted from just below his lip, they were tendril-like and several inches in length causing them to appear as an oddly styled soul patch at first glance. Brizan recognized these protrusions as barbels, external sensory organs that some fish use to test the quality of the water. On top of his head, he had long, dark grey dreadlocks that reached down to his shoulders with a fluffy, white and black tiger-striped bowler hat sitting on top of them. He also wore a pair of slick, black sunglasses with golden lenses. To top all of this off this barbeled behemoth wore a large diamond stud in each ear and had a broad grin going from cheek to cheek._

_The rest of the man's body made up the remaining fourteen and a half feet and had to weigh at least a ton in pure bulk. Brizan had to hold back a laugh at the pure ridiculousness of the man's outfit. He wore a white suit and dress pants, but they were far from plain. His suit was patterned with black and white checkers on the right side but was solid white on the left. The man’s suit was only buttoned at the midway point and down to reveal a short white tie with black polka dots on top of a bright purple dress shirt. His pants were also white but had black parallel vertical stripes covering the entire length down to his shiny white dress shoes. _

"_Ohh, you're a lively one aren't you?" The giant man asked the thief who continued to dance around him excitedly while the giant batted at him gently with huge webbed hands with a bejeweled ring on each massive finger._

_Upon closer inspection, Brizan could see that the rings on his fingers were piercings since it was impossible to wear rings on webbed hands. Brizan was almost certain now as he glanced up at the giant's neck to see what he was looking for. Pairs of parrellel gill slits stretched across the base of either side of his neck. His suspicions were confirmed. "You're a fishman aren't you?" Brizan asked, he had only heard of fishman a couple of times from travelers visiting the island, but they were usually overdramatized to the point that Brizan doubted that they even existed._

"_Why yes I am, my little friend!" The Fishman said, still grinning broadly with his flat teeth. "A silver arowana fishman in fact!" He continued enthusiastically as he raised his arms. "Hi, my name is Bert and I'm from the underwater South Blue village of Yortin. My brother Schimar was our town’s greatest carpenter. He got killed by the local thugs, so I created a style of Muay Thai and beat them up. Now I live my life as a bodyguard and a shipwright!" Bert said as he enthusiastically spilled his life story and extended his massive webbed hand for Brizan to shake. _

_Brizan reached forward hesitantly, not quite sure why the fishman decided to explain his life story in his introduction. After thoroughly judging the man as an eccentric with whom interactions should be minimized, the outlaw tentatively grabbed what he could of the fishman’s hand. The behemoth had a shockingly gentle grip. "The name is Brizan, I'm from Cooperton. That is a fine ship you built." Bizan said with a tested smile that did not reach his eyes._

_Orrahn was still dancing around the fishman yelling "Whalebert, its Whalebert!" in his annoyingly high-pitched voice. _

_"And that is Orrahn, he's a pest for the most part."_

"_Ohh, I'll just ignore him and let him have his fun," Bert said with great enthusiasm as he walked towards the ship. "And thank you, I have been building it for the Noble I have been guarding. Just don't try to steal it or attack me to take it or you'll end up like those punks earlier." Bert laughed heartily as he glanced at his ship. "Not that it would have done them any good, I'm not done building it. I still some finishing touches to add to this beauty before she is truly seaworthy!" Bert laughed some more as he pressed his hand up against it._

"_Oh, so you are who the pirates were fighting," Brizan said, not hiding the unsurprised tone in his voice at all. "We had to bump into them on our way out here, though it seems we took a wrong turn somewhere."_

"_Ah, well it doesn’t look like they gave you too much trouble!" Bert responded with a smile the length of a cat before asking the follow-up question "So where were you trying to go?"_

"_To that giant pink casino." Brizan lied casually, recalling the first major landmark he spotted in this city._

"_Yea the casino, the casino!" Orrahn echoed as jumped back to Brizan's side, the kid never knew when to relax. Maybe Brizan could find a way to ditch him here._

"_Ohh, I will be heading there as soon as I am done here! We might as well go together!”_

_Brizan swallowed, of course, he picked the one place the person he was trying to ditch was going. He figured he could figure out how to ditch Orrahn after the two got away from this monster._

_ The Present - Babylon Island: The Euphrates Casino _

_‘Well the ship is done, so all I need to do is get away from this table and steal it while Bert is occupied_' Brizan thought to himself as he glancedtook a glance around the room for Orrahn, the brat was nowhere to be found.

"Bettohohohoho" The mustachioed stranger laughed "Pocket Aces! Looks like I win again! Bettohohohoho!" He laughed heartily as he raked the chips towards him for the third time in a row.

"Damn cheater…" Hexxon snatched the deck and began to shuffle, his face a visage of malice. "They better hurry up…" He mumbled under his angered breath.

"Don't you try anything, pirate! I know that expression, your kind never handles losing properly" Vindlewelt stated, giving Bert the cue to step forward as an act of intimidation. Unfortunately, the massive fishman’s pleasant grin somewhat offset the effect.

"So much bickering..." Brizan muttered as he looked towards the blackjack table, he blinked. Standing behind one of the tables, in the red and black casino uniform, was Orrahn, or at least an Orrahn with a fake beard.

"Oh, better luck next time, my dude!" Brizan could hear Orrahn as he shuffled the cards expertly in front of all the gamblers.

'What the hell is he doing?' Brizan thought to himself as he looked back at his table.

"Bettohohohohoho, are you even going to look at your cards mate? Or are you just going to fold again, it's your turn!" The mustachioed man said with a grin on his face. 

Brizan glanced idly toward the blackjack tables and blinked in surprise. Standing behind one of the tables, in the red and black casino uniform, was Orrahn, or at least an Orrahn with a fake beard. Brizan pushed his cards forward and rested his head on his hand. "Yea I fold, I just wasn't feeling that hand."

"No kidding!" Vindlewelt began as he scratched his delicately trimmed beard. "You didn't even touch them! Have a little faith my dear boy!" He said in awe of Brizan's apathy.

"Naw, I'm good." Brizan replied as he looked back towards Orrahn's table, he was gone 'he must be plotting something…'

"Bettohohoho!" The mustachioed man laughed "I think I will fold this time! I am not feeling my draw either!"

"Bout damn time!" Hexxon exclaimed as he pushed some chips forward "I raise 15,000!"

"I'll match that." Vindlewelt echoed.

"Me as well!" Koji said with confidence.

Brizan sighed, Hexxon was getting angry and Orrahn was out of sight, if they could just get out now they could go steal _The Moon Goddess_, but Brizan had to get himself wrapped up in this stupid game.

"Screw it! I'm going all in!" The pirate slammed his hands on the table three times as if he was tapping some kind of signal.

'Uh-oh' Brizan thought to himself as he looked to Vindlewelt "You better pull me and fold on this hand." Brizan quietly stated.

"Nonsense! I am going to match this savage! He stole the money he is about to lose anyways!" At that moment, the sound of a loud horn reverberated through the casino.

'Damn this place is so loud.' Brizan thought to himself as he searched for the source of the sound to no avail.

"You're the one who is going to lose, you conceited bastard!" Hexxon exclaimed, slapping a king of spades and a King of hearts onto the table "Four of a kind!"

"You're wrong!" Vindlewelt chuckled, gently sliding his hand onto the playing surface "Royal Flush!"

"Bettohohohoho!" the stranger echoed "looks like you lose!"

"Now would you please leave the building?" Vindlewelt asked as he leaned forward towards the massive pirate, who was now beat red with anger and began to rake all of Hexxon's chips towards his pile.

"TO HELL WITH YOU!" Hexxon roared in fury as he reached into his long beard and whipped out a pistol he had somehow smuggled past the security. There was a moment of silence as the pirate places the barrel of the gun up to the noble’s forehead.

The next couple of seconds passed as if in slow motion as a loud *BANG!* echoed through the casino. Bert was just a hundredth of a second too late as he sent them flying along with Vindlewelt's now limp body as he crashed into it, elbowed Hexxon in the face, and grabbed the gun from his hand. Hexxon flew into the neighboring poker table as a group of much less interesting people jumped up from in surprise. Bert was now pointing the still-smoking gun right at him, his massive barbels fully exposed.

"Did you see that?" Brizan could hear people mutter, "That monster fishman just shot his boss and attacked that pirate." One person said.

"Yea he must have snuck it in by tucking it into that big mouth!" Another repeated.

"Yea, what a fat mouth, get a job you fat-mouthed freak!"

"And Vindlewelt was such a great man too, he always walked with the commoners of every island he visited, he even spoke against fishman discrimination!”

The banter continued along those lines, causing Brizan to grimace in disgust. _'How dumb can people be? His mouth is not that fat when his total size is accounted for_' Brizan thought to himself as he began to scavenge for chips on the floor and shove them in his pockets.

"YOU SAVAGE BEAST!" Hexxon yelled as he jumped to his feet, only bleeding slightly from his mouth, he truly was a fearsome man. "I saw you shoot him myself!" he continued, playing on the bystander's fickle judgment "I will exact revenge upon you, and take this casino's money as payment!"

"But I-" Bert began before another loud "Bang!" ensued, causing Bert to stop in his tracks before falling to the ground with blood staining the back of his white suit.

Brizan jumped to his feet and looked towards the sound. Four men were now walking towards them and the front of the casino. They formed a diamond pattern with a hulking tan man wearing boxing gloves with two large bags thrown over his shoulders in the back. The man stood at about 12 feet tall and bald with a goatee. The man wore no shirt and had a large tattoo of Hexxon's jolly roger, a skull with the gunblade behind it, on his chest.

'That's "Dirty Fist" Holyfield, the boxing champion of the south blue after "Boxing Champ" Jerry was employed by the world government. He must be Hexxon's first mate.' Brizan thought to himself as he eyed the other three who were obviously grunt members of the Gunblade Pirates. The one on Brizan's left had two drawn cutlasses covered in the blood of what Brizan assumed to be security members. The one on the right had a sword in his hands and a trumped shoved in his belt. 'They must have broken into the vault and got their weapons and the casino's money before ambushing the security from behind.' Brizan thought to himself as he looked at the man who was in the front and center to confirm his worst fears. The last pirate was about eight feet tall and held a smoking pistol in one hand and drug a tied up Orrahn with the other. "Orrahn!" Brizan shouted. "What the hell!"

"Oh, that's your friend they got then ‘Coy Boy’?" A voice said causing Brizan to spin around.

"How did you-" Brizan said as he looked into the goggles of the mystery man from the table.

"Oh calm down, I didn't tell anyone!" He said with a grin as he threw several VERY familiar poker chips into the sack in his hands. "I guess I'll just leave this fight to you then mate!" He said with joy as he patted Brizan on the shoulder and skipped jovially out towards the exit with all of the poker chips at the table in his bag. "I'll just cash these in later after you clean up here, BETTOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"My poker chips…" Brizan moaned.

"Stop right there!" Hexxon shouted in an attempt to halt the stranger "That's my money!" He pleaded to no avail as the stranger jumped about twenty feet into the air and right out the window, causing glass to go everywhere and leaving the security that was making its way from the entrance to the cause of the commotion in absolute awe.

That was a mistake on their part as bullets tore into their back as ten more members of the Gunblade pirates entered the Euphrates.

"Calm down boss!" Holyfield said with an agitated grimace. "We got the money in the vault with no issues thanks to this punk that Corduroy is holding, he already knocked out the two guards and broke in for us!"

"Well then shoot the runt and let's go! I'm growing to hate this place!" Hexxon yelled.

"Aye aye captain!" Corduroy said as he moved the gun towards the twelve-year-old thief.

"Orrahn!" Brizan yelled while he sprinted to the rescue, wishing that he had his weapons.

"Oh no, you don't!" The man with the trumpet growled as he and the double cutlass pirate stepped forward to confront him, swords in hand.

Brizan ignored the two and was on the path to run right in between them and at Corduroy, who realized this and fired his gun at Brizan only to miss his head by inches. The two other pirates stepped in closer and raised the weapons above their heads.

"Single Shard Refraction!" He said as his gaze softened and semi-transparent reflections of his right leg sprouted out from him at forty-five-degree angles. The enemy pirates began to initiate their swing while corduroy tried desperately to reload. The outlaw’s leg shot toward Corduroy while the two refractions aimed at the pirates on either side. "Echo Kick!" He muttered, causing his realr leg to blur momentarily shortly before hitting Corduroy square in the stomach The three pirates stumbled back from the impact, though the images seemed to have less impact than his real leg. After a brief moment of silence, an afterimage of his real kick slammed into Corduroy again, an echo of the original impact. The second impact was enough to send the man crashing to the tile. Brizan used the moment of surprise to disarm and trip up the remaining two combatants as well, grabbing a knife while he was at it.

Kalmina, who was still hiding behind her chair, was the first to speak. "What just happened, it seems that young man is still fine," she said, standing up in shock

Brizan was so focused on cutting the ropes on Orrahn's, that he did not notice that his sunglasses fell off his face. Orrahn, on the other hand, was giving Brizan tips on how to extend and improve his attack names.

"That's Soso ‘Coy Boy’ Brizan!" Someone muttered in shock. "He has a bounty of 6,000,000!" The man continued.

"What did he just do?" Another woman shouted causing everyone in the crowded casino.

Orrahn pulled the remnants of rope apart and rubbed his reddened wrists "Bout time blondie,” the boy grinned, slipping the rest of the rope off his ankles and rolling to his feet. The thief turned his attention to Hexxon and the crow with his arms held "Want to know what just happened?" Orrahn began, "Well let me tell you!" Orrahn said before pausing for dramatic effect.

Everyone in the casino including a Hexxon who had now suddenly gotten a lot closer to Brizan and Orrahn froze in their tracks. "Well, tell us!" He demanded.

Orrahn skipped back towards Brizan and shoved a finger in his chest, "HE'S A WIZARD! A WIZARD!" He grinned, "Zehehehehe!" He laughed maniacally and turned back to Hexxon who was slowly beginning to turn red again with anger.

"ENOUGH WITH THE BULLSHIT!" Came an angry voice from behind them. "Dirty Fist" Holyfield now had both of the massive sacks from the vault in one hand and was in the process of a punch with the other, his boxing glove now covered in spikes to reveal the reason for his nickname.

Brizan had no time to react, but luck was on his side in the form of thundering footsteps behind him. "OMEGA FIST!" Said a familiar voice as a ring covered hand punched Holyfield square in the face, knocking him down and causing the bags in his hands to spill cash and confiscated weapons everywhere. Bert was now standing in front of Brizan with his right knee raised and his fists in a Muay Thai Boxing stance. "A true man of class never lets his sunglasses fall off, my friend!" Bert said with a broad smile, his glasses still perfectly perched on his nose.

Brizan had no time to respond because the pirates at the entrance began their charge, Hexxon was nowhere in sight.

Orrahn reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pair of black goggles before placing them around his head. "Here we go!" he grinned with excitement while he reached into his jacket and pulled out several small bombs with fuses lit from his jacket's zipper. "You better close your eyes, this gas stings!" He said as he threw the bombs to the ground, causing them to immediately emit a green smoke that caused the eyes to sting terribly.

The approaching pirates suddenly froze, the whole group was now rubbing their eyes and trying to get out of the gas. "I might as well use my daggers for this!" Orrahn grinned as he drew his only permanent weapons and ran into the gas with his goggles on.

"You damn fish!" Roared Holyfield who was now back on his feet and in his fighting stance. Both of his gloves were now covered in metal spikes and raised towards his face. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Ohh!” Bert tugged on his barbels for a moment then shrugged “am I allowed to say no?”

"Damn you to hell!" Holyfield roared "DIRTY LEFT HOOK!" He yelled as he punched Bert in the side of his face. "DIRTY UPPERCUT!" He continued while following through with an uppercut towards Bert's Jaw.

Bert, however, managed to step back and dodge the uppercut before launching his counter-attack. "Omega knee!" He said with his booming voice while he jumped forward and kneed Holyfield square in the stomach.

Brizan turned to Orrahn, the boy was quite disappointed with Brizan’s attack names. The outlaw wondered how Orrahn would feel about the unimaginative and uninspired variations of strike attacks these two fools were spouting.  
  
"Wahahaha! I finally found it!" Brizan heard a voice say as he finally found his cutlass. Now he just needed his gun to get off his trademark cheapshots while his sword had the opponent occupied. Hexxon was now standing about twenty feet to the left of the fight between boxers with his massive gunblade pointed right at Bert. "Your thick hide can't protect you from this armor-piercing round! The rifle in this blade is the most powerful in the South Blue!" He gloated as he aimed and prepared to squeeze the trigger.

Brizan began to run towards Hexxon, knowing that he would never make it in time but tripped over something before he could make it very far. "Shit!" He yelled as he fell to the ground.

_*BANG!*_ the gun sounded and Brizan looked towards Bert. He had stopped fighting and looked towards Hexxon but was completely unharmed. "DIRTY JAB!" Holyfield yelled as he punched the distracted Bert in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground, style intact.

Hexxon had missed and Brizan could now see why as he got to his feet and picked up his pistol that he had miraculously tripped on despite its size. "Damn I need to load this fast." He muttered as he ran towards Hexxon, loading his gun at the same time.

"You merchant pest!" Hexxon growled as he backhanded Koji and knocked him to the ground. "How dare you throw off my shot by pushing my arm!" He growled as he pointed the weapon to Koji's throat. "You'll die for that!" Hexxon growled, sword raised.

Brizan held out his sword and dashed forward. The blade of the cutlass began to distort as he struck out.

Hexxon brought his sword down with all his might "Decapitatiooooooooooon!"

_‘Echo Cutter!_' Brizan thought to himself as loud as he could as both his cutlass and its afterimage clashed with the gunblade, causing it to crash into the floor slightly off target. Hexxon's great strength showed as cracks now covered the tile around the impact.

_'Echo Shot!_' Brizan was not one for shouting move names, especially when he just internally criticized this move naming scheme. The coyest of boys whipped out his pistol and fired it, shooting a bullet and an afterimage right after one another. Hexxon saw the cheap shot coming and sidestepped it before coming around with his sword and swinging it at Brizan's head. "Woah!" Brizan gasped as he just barely ducked under the strike. "Can't you just take the money and run? I don't feel like fighting." The outlaw rolled across the ground, landing on his feet with his weapons held out before him. This was going to be both dangerous and pointless, the outlaw’s least favorite combination.


End file.
